Estes Park is certainly a magical and beautiful place. But our paradise is vulnerable to natural hazards and power outages. Floods (2013, 1982, 1976), fires (2012, 2020, 2021, 2024), wind, winter storms, and other crises can cause widespread damage and interrupt our electrical systems. I was working at the hospital during the 2013 flood. I clearly remember the complete loss of connectivity shortly after noon on Sept. 13 that year.
I also recall the evacuation of the whole town in 2020 in response to the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires. As operations chief at Estes Park Health at the time, I have many stories I could tell about the ordeal and its aftermath.
So, as we continue to convert to green power—wind and solar primarily, while reducing and eliminating coal and gas sources—we have to ensure stable and dependable access to sufficient and timely electricity. In other words, we need to ensure it is always there when we need it.
Sufficient storage ability and redundancy of service is essential to keep our power ready for use whenever/wherever needed—particularly as we continue to grapple with the impacts of climate change.
Our hospital, our other medical care providers, our schools, our town, our businesses, our residents, and our lodging for our guests: all depend on available, plentiful power. And yet, according to our Line Superintendent Joe Lockhart, we have had three 100% blackouts in the last two years.
Fortunately, two projects, supported by local, state, and federal funding, will provide increased resiliency to our grid and town, while enabling our move to green power. We very much appreciate the state’s commitment to work with local governments to become more resilient in the face of growing climate-related dangers and other challenges.
Battery for storage of electrical energy
The first project is funded by a $350,000 grant from the Microgrids for Community Resilience program, through the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, to our wholesale power provider, Platte River Power Authority.
This program will provide our first-ever battery for storage of electrical energy. The battery will connect to our electrical grid, providing backup power to the hospital, utility shop, fire protection district, Estes Park Emergency Response Command Center, and 1,300 customers.
Once we eliminate coal-generated electricity by 2030, the battery will become especially important. And by then, we will be starting to add more batteries to the system so that, ultimately, we will have sufficient storage to handle the load for all of Estes during times when the alternative sources of energy are not sufficient to power the whole town.
The first battery is expected to be live by 2027 and will be in a central location, where it will be able to support many different parts of town when needed. Future batteries will be in other locations and will be connected as part of a microgrid for the Town, which is a subset of the grid that can operate independently in the event of a major outage. PRPA plans to install these batteries in all four member communities—Loveland, Fort Collins, Longmont, as well as Estes Park.
Rebuilding a distribution feeder line
The second project is funded by a $661,000 grant from the Colorado Energy Office’s Grid Hardening for Small and Rural Communities Program. With this funding, we will rebuild a main distribution feeder line to the north part of Estes so that the north can receive service from the south feeder when needed. This upgrade will replace 1970s-era conductors with modern components, some underground and some fire-resistant covered cables. This will create redundancy for north Estes that has been lacking with the current structure and capacity.
I cannot overstate the value of working with the State for these improvements. We want to thank the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, the Colorado Energy Office, DOLA and the MCR program, and others who are helping to make this happen for the Estes Valley. I want the lights to always be on, and I want to continue to help steer our community toward clean and green electricity. With these two projects, we take another big step toward a better future, for which our descendants will thank us down the line. Onward.